Wolves v Spurs: In Need of Some Festive Cheer

tottenham

A dismal run of three games without a win has seen Tottenham drop from top spot to sixth in just over a week. It was always tight at the top of the EPL table but the fact that we have slipped out of the Champions League places so quickly underlines that fact.

Normally, a trip to Molineux to face Wolves would not offer the tonic that a team struggling for form would need but Nuno Espirito Santo’s men are also in a rut that leaves them in mid-table. Can we take advantage or will our disappointing run continue in this Sunday 7.15pm kick off?

Team News

Festive print deadlines mean that we’re having to write this preview ahead of Wednesday’s EFL Cup quarter final so cannot cover any potential injuries from the trip to face Stoke City. Prior to that match, reports stated that Erik Lamela and Japhet Tanganga would be out until the New Year and there’s no reason to suggest that the prognosis has changed in either case.

Beyond that news, readers will have to monitor the Stoke tie and listen to the manager’s press conference ahead of Sunday.

Match Odds

Despite that poor recent run, Spurs are the favourites for all three points and you can back the away win at best odds of 13/11 with VBet. The same bookmaker is offering the draw at 44/19 while a victory for Wolves is quoted at a top price of 29/10 with Unibet.

We’re painfully aware of our recent results while Wolves’ record shows three defeats in their last five. The remaining two matches did, however, return 2-1 wins over Chelsea and Arsenal so there is some threat remaining. Overall, it looks from the outside as though they are struggling to cover for the departed Diogo Jota and the injured Raul Jimenez and perhaps that’s the reason for their relatively low place in comparison to the last few seasons. Whether we can capitalise is the big question.

Side Markets

Harry Kane
Harry Kane

Once again, just remember that the individual goal scorer odds here are listed prior to the Stoke match so they don’t take into account any potential absentees. The favourite to open the scoring is Harry Kane and the striker can currently be claimed at best odds of 18/5 with Unibet and 888Sport. The same two bookies are offering the top price on Carlos Vinicius at 24/5 while Son Heung-Min and Gareth Bale are both available at 6/1 with VBet.

Wolves first make an appearance through Fabio Silva who is available at 17/2 with 888Sport while Pedro Neto is quoted at 9/1 with Unibet. Also at 9/1 with both Unibet and 888Sport are Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn. Other potential options for Tottenham include Giovani Lo Celso at 14/1 with Betway and Tanguy Ndombele at 18/1 with VBet.

Moving on to team bets and Both Teams to Score is available for Sunday’s game at best odds of 10/11 with BetFred. As we often say, it’s rare to see this market get close to Even Money so there may be some value in that figure.

Turning to the Total Goals betting and punters can go above the 2.5 line to get 16/13 with 10Bet. After a period of free scoring, we’ve been quite subdued of late but this could be a game where Over 3.5 goals comes into play at 16/5 with SportNation and RedZone.

Lastly, anyone looking to get involved with Correct Score betting might want to consider the 2-2 draw which is available at 16/1 with GentingBet. Alternatively, a positive outlook could see you opt for 2-1 to Spurs which is listed at 17/2 while the same scoreline in favour of Wolves is quoted at 12/1. Once again, both of those prices are with GentingBet.

Last Season

Like a number of other teams, we’ve had our struggles against Wolves since they came back into the top flight but last season, we came away from Molineux with all three points. The game was played in mid-December and, after Lucas Moura had put us into an early lead, Adama Traore levelled on 67 minutes.

The match looked to be heading for a draw but our late winner saw two unlikely sources combine. If you can’t remember the game, you’ll struggle to believe that a Jan Vertonghen header from a Christian Eriksen corner was the difference on the day but the Belgian rose to nod in and claim the points that took us into fifth place at the time.

Verdict

We seem to be in one of those ruts where, if Harry and Sonny aren’t scoring, there’s nothing from midfield to compensate. Both men are in contention for the Premier League Golden Boot and have scored 20 goals between them in this campaign but the rest of the squad have managed just five combined strikes. Clearly they are our major source of goals and, there is an argument that we shouldn’t be complaining as we’ve relied solely on Kane at times. Son is actually out-scoring the main striker right now but when they don’t score, Spurs don’t score.

Anyway, that’s a minor rant after a frustrating week but we should have enough to come back with a positive result on Sunday. Dealing with the side bets, we think this is one of the more likely games for Both Teams to Score to drop and we’re surprised to see it as long as 10/11 so we’ll jump on that.

Elsewhere, we have got a little carried away with some of our high scoring games and Over 3.5 goals hasn’t dropped in the last five matches. It’s due for a revisit and we think this will be more open. And, as we’ve just highlighted our two main sources of goals, we’ll opt for Sonny to score in 90 minutes. He’s been more prolific this season and offers better value in the markets than Harry Kane so we’ll round off with that tip and look for a more positive result as the festive fixture list rolls on.

Best Bets:

  • Both Teams to Score at 10/11 with BetFred
  • Over 3.5 Goals at 16/5 with SportNation
  • Son Heung-Min to score at any time in 90 minutes at 21/10 with VBet

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